Tag Archive: first act

So The Avengers is finally upon us (in Britain anyway, over in the States you still have another week to wait. God knows where the logic in that is, but anyway) and fanboys can rejoice as their favourite superheroes are brought to the big screen together. Since the release of Iron Man in 2008, the excitement has just been building and today what I imagined throughout my childhood was put before me in the cinema.

The Avengers, if you don’t know the story by now, is the tale of these superheroes: Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Together they are brought together by Nick Fury and SHIELD to defeat the enemy that one single hero could never defeat alone. There is an army from another world waging war on Earth, led by Thor’s evil half brother, Loki. Family ties and egos get in the way but can these great people overcome their difficulties to save millions of lives?

The cast and director of the biggest superhero film to date.

The cast is incredible. Robery Downey Jr is, as we have come to expect as Tony Stark, fantastic. Joss Whedon’s snappy dialogue really lends itself to Downey’s portrayal of Stark excellently and he really continues to make the character so, just, amazing. Chris Hemworth is the Avenger stuck in the middle, on one side planet Earth and on the other his family, and he pulls off the torn God of Asgard well and the character continues to develop from his own film. Chris Evans as the ever warm hearted and honourable soldier Steve Rogers, or Captain America, is great. Jeremy Renner doesn’t have as much screen time as I would have liked or enough time to showcase his acting abilities but he does what he needs to, along with Cobie Smulders, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg. Tom Hiddleston once more continues to play the delightfully evil Loki but it is really Mark Ruffalo who impresses, especially as I was a big fan of Ed Norton as Bruce Banner but Ruffalo puts any doubts to bed almost immediately.

The Avengers is in a very lucky position in which all the characters are all already known to film audiences thanks to their own films. So here, we dive straight into the action and waste no time with character introductions which makes the first act one of the most compelling I have seen in recent times. How the heroes are brought together is very well done, it’s something I had my doubts about before watching and it could have been done very cliched so well done to Whedon for that. Thor’s arrival in the film in particular is well handled.

Hemsworth and Evans have expressed an interest in appearing in each other's sequels.

Most things that fans may question are put to bed almost immediately in The Avengers which leaves ties open to all of the other individual films that will surely follow once more. Things such as where Jane Foster is, why the Avengers are not after the Hulk (something alluded to during The Incredible Hulk‘s final scene) and how Thor returns to Earth are answered very quickly and very sensibly. The only thing is there is no mention of Peggy Carter which I think could have been hinted at (I know a scene that featured Steve and Peggy was cut but it would have been nice to have her name mentioned at least).

The Hulk is unlikely to get another film to himself.

The final war is incredible. These are some huge action scenes, whole sets are blown up and the special effects are phenomenal, especially in the case of the alien ships. Seeing Thor, Hulk, Cap and Iron Man all working together is something that is sure to get the fanboys worked up into a sweat and it will leave them grinning after leaving theatres for weeks afterwards. Watch out for the ‘continuous shot’ in the war scene which is one of the best scenes I have ever seen; in one shot we follow all the action and get to see each individual showcasing their skills. It looks as though one hero becomes the leader (although I shall leave out who so you can find out for yourself) and watching The Avengers one hero really steals the show: The Hulk. Ruffalo’s performance, as I said earlier, is really good! But when he turns into the Hulk you know that sh*t is about to go down. Every time the Hulk is on the screen he is destroying things and he becomes the best possible weapon for SHIELD and the Avengers to be in possession of. Words just can not describe how good it is to see these heroes fighting side by side.

The Avengers is everything that a comic book movie should be. We have heroes with a lot of heart, not always getting along (and the insults and little ego battles are really entertaining), we have a villain with motivation and a real sense of evil. There are huge explosions, great action scenes and the dialogue is full of wit. The direction is top class and everything just comes together superbly. The only phrase to describe this movie is with these two words: absolutely orgasmic.